Are Seabourn ready for 6* cruising - Our worst cruise ever!!

[John117]

We tried to book a cruise around 6 weeks out and managed to reserve a guaranteed suite but flights were not available to book.  This was supposedly linked to the move of embarkation from Venice to Ravenna. (didn’t Venice ban cruise ships from 1^st August 2021? Why was this a surprise 9 months later?) After another week and calls to Seabourn and TA we were advised that flights could now be booked but the only “included” flights involved a change and some very long stopovers. We were offered a cruise only fare and then quoted a fare for the flights and transfers. The flights were with Easyjet so not a great 6 star start but at least we got Gatwick flights which is easier for us. The fares we got were considerably more than those available direct from EJ so our transfers were very expensive.  In normal times we would have taken the cruise only fare and sorted out our own flights and transfers but we decided there were too many Covid problems so went with the Seabourn package.

 

4 weeks out we were told we would need a medically observed Covid test before leaving home. This was supposedly a government requirement but no-one could tell me which government. I emailed Seabourn guest relations for confirmation but I still await a reply. So we had to pay the £70 plus the train fare to go up to Gatwick airport and have the test done even though this was quite clearly a Seabourn requirement introduced after we had paid the full fare.

 

Our flight was slightly late into Bologna but clearing immigration and collecting the luggage was very quick. Unfortunately, there was no Seabourn representative waiting for us. We searched the airport for an hour to no avail then started to make some calls. The ground agents phone kept cutting out but after 4 short interrupted calls I managed to get the message across and as if by magic a young lady appeared holding a Seabourn label.

Eventually after a 2.5 hour delay we finished up with a private transfer which was quite fast (160km/hr for much of the distance) and we were soon on board.

 

We met our suite attendant and her assistant and were given our customary glass of champagne (lukewarm! And no canapés) and sorted out the drinks for the room. My wife asked for some slices of lime for the mini bar but after 3 days some lemon appeared but never any lime. We also called room service for the lime but that didn’t work either.

 

We had a few suite issues such as the air-con failing to cool the room, the shower valve wouldn’t turn far enough to allow a warm shower one of the sinks wouldn’t run away and the balcony divider rattling but these were quickly fixed by guest services (the balcony divider was fixed by me with 2 cocktail stirrers). Then our minibar fridge packed up on day 12 but within 4 hours we had a new fridge

 

The other problem we had was the servicing of our suite. Our suite attendant was based on deck 7 but we were on deck 5. We had no chance to interact with her as we never saw her. We resorted to communicating by leaving her notes. We had several nights when our room was not serviced at all or not done fully, room service dishes were still in our room some 5 hours later, the glasses we used during the afternoon weren’t washed up etc. We always put the service card on our door when we left the cabin but of course out stewardess didn’t see it as she spent all her time 2 decks away. I raised this problem in the comments form after 3 days but never had a reply from guest services until day 10 when I received a phone call. After the first 7 days we were visited by a new suite stewardess and her colleague who were taking over our suite. Most of the suites they have to look after are on deck 9. This seemed to improve things but we still had a few minor glitches like being 1 towel short, and getting down to our last toilet roll and running out of tissues. We also found a large piece of broken glass just under the bed which had probably been there since we embarked. Fortunately, our feet were just too small to step on this. We understand some cabin attendants had over 18 suites to look after.

 

Room service was variable. Warm champagne, portion of caviar for one instead of 2.  Breakfast orders were a bit of a joke and it was a lottery as to what turned up. The coffee was undrinkable sludge and normally cold. How can they deliver an odd number of certain items when you order 2 portions.

There were quite a few “new” staff who obviously needed some more training. Seabourn admit they are training staff but why should I have to participate in it and pay a large sum of money for the privilege?

 

The choice of food at breakfast has been cut quite dramatically with a poor selection of fruit, yoghurt and cereals. Yoghurt now comes in a small glass bowl or a large bowl for you to serve yourself. It was generally very runny and tasteless. It could take in excess of 20 mins for an order of fried eggs to arrive so don’t cut it fine if you are on a tour. Coffee was another issue and even the “French press” coffee was variable.

 

The wine selection was poor and even further reduced from our cruise on Encore in March. No French or South American Red wine. We were advised that some local wine had been taken on board but this was never publicised. On day 12 I got another list and it was reduced even further by 1 red. We tried some of the local Slovenia and Croatia wines brought on board but definitely not to our taste (even the supposedly better quality ones brought on on our second week of the cruise). Warm champagne was served on several occasions in the bars and even by room service. We ordered a $115 bottle of wine from the Head sommelier one evening but she never returned to check we were happy with it and topping our glasses was left to the wait staff.

 

The Restaurant was never open for breakfast or lunch so the choice of dining venues was reduced. On Keller nights in the Collonade a reservation was required there too reducing the choice of dining options. Earth and Ocean was also closed some nights if the CD had arranged some on deck entertainment.

 

The grill was slightly better on this trip (compared to Encore in March) but not great and the pisco sour was really good as was the Dover Sole.  I asked for my steak to be well done and it was but it was practically incinerated. They don’t seem to appreciate the concept of butterflying the beef and prefer to burn it to get to well done. The fries and veg were acceptable at best. We have tried the deserts before and weren’t impressed so gave them a miss (except for one order to test them and I didn’t eat that either).

 

The service in the restaurant was so bad one night as our regular waiter wasn’t there.  Different types of butter were just dumped on the table with no explanation of what each pot was, bread was dumped on our plate without asking what we would like, wine was spilt on the table and down the glass and not mopped up, our order was not taken for 20 mins, food served from wrong side, fish overcooked…. And so it goes on.  We spoke to the Maître d who accepted all our comments without argument. On the way out we were met by the food and beverage manager so we briefed him on our problems again

 

On Seabourn we used to have a problem deciding which restaurant to go to as we liked almost everything on the menu. This time we searched for something we might eat and changed the side dishes to suit us as the recommended ones were pretty bad. This was definitely the worst food we have experienced on any cruise (Viking, Cunard, Regent, Silversea, Seabourn and several river cruises). This includes the three other post Covid cruises taken since August 2021

 

We never saw the chef in the restaurant. He seemed stay in the kitchen so the poor wait staff had to take all the bad comments.

 

The water provided in recyclable bottles we didn’t like so we managed to get enough Evian and filled our own bottles for going ashore.

 

The group of Entertainment staff spent time in the bars drinking on occasions. They were not performing as one of the team was ill. They have not performed in 10 weeks since being employed. They also made themselves at home in the hot tubs and swimming pool

 

They have installed Night lights under both bedside cabinets and the dressing table which can’t be switched off.  They come on automatically as you walk past and stay on for about 10 seconds. They produce an excessive amount of light and this normally wakes your partner if you try to visit the bathroom in the night.

 

We understand our cruise had 280 passengers on week one and 250 on week 2 so not exactly crowded. The cruise following ours they think had 183 passengers.

 

Management of tenders and groups was a problem. We sat on a tender for 25 mins one day waiting for a group to board.

 

Our return transfer was by coach at a much more sedate pace with a Seabourn rep on board. We were dropped off at the bus station but received no help as to where to go to check in. This might not seem such a problem but Bologna airport is quite small and if I tell you our coach took 10 mins to negotiate the airport entrance road mainly due to the drop off car park being full and cars being abandoned and suitcases unloaded all along the road you will realise how busy the airport was and that some help would have eased the journey.

 

So, in summary many of these are small issues and on their own would not have spoilt our holiday. The problem was they appeared almost every day. This was basically 3/4* service and food but at 6* prices. In case you think we waited until we got home to complain I can assure you that we had meaningful discussions with the Hotel Director “Harry” who accepted there were problems and they would “get fixed”. Unfortunately, not in time for our cruise!!

 

If Seabourn don’t have enough competent staff to give the service they advertise, which it would appear was the case on this cruise, then they should not have started up so many ships. The present service level will destroy their reputation as a 6* cruise line.

 

We will definitely not be returning to Seabourn in the near future until they sort themselves out and get back to where they were pre pandemic (if they ever do under new owners?)

 

 

 

[lincslady]

Wow - sounds so unlike Seabourn of old, John.  (I do believe every word you say).  Obviously the main problem is lack of trained staff, plus perhaps a sub-standard Chef.  All cruise lines have had real problems with Covid,  but this sounds as though SB have coped less well than the others.

 

I hope  Head Office are reading this, and all other similar reviews, as they really should take some of the ships out of action until they have got suitable staff suitably trained.  Otherwise their reputation will be in tatters.

[Host Dan]

13 minutes ago, lincslady said:

 

 

I hope  Head Office are reading this, and all other similar reviews, as they really should take some of the ships out of action until they have got suitable staff suitably trained.  Otherwise their reputation will be in tatters.

Wow!  Definitely not what one would expect on SB.  I was hoping the issues were from just the Odyssey.  I guess its ship wide.  Very sad.

[LEESRE]

Thanks for the review, sorry that you were disappointed with your cruise.

No I don't think it only applies to the Odyssey, we cruise on Encore earlier in the year and the problems you faced we also had some of the problems. Restaurant was bad, food served either warm or sometimes cold, even after asking for HOT food.

We also never saw our suite attendant we left notes for things missing etc.

It was not the usual Seabourn experience, and we have done quite a few.

We have just returned from Azamara and must say that the food in the restaurant was better than we had on Seabourn.

 

[highplanesdrifters]

@John117thank you for taking the time to report in detail.  We have just returned from a Silversea Cloud trip. The ship, food, and staff were fantastic but the corporate overlords treated us so poorly that Silversea are on the never again list until all our FCCs are used up. Many onboard expressed the same sentiment with torches and pitchforks.  With a few Seabourn trips coming up, I wonder if they too will be on the never again list.  Then it will be off to Ponant or perhaps trying some of the other new luxury lines, eventually crawling back to Seabourn and Silverseas 🤣.

[margbem]

We just disembarked the Quest, having done the same two weeks. We had a great time, thought the free pour wines were excellent on the whole, and found the food to be very good. The chef appeared in the main restaurant at least four times after service, so probably around 9pm. 
 

There definitely needed to be more input from the entertainment staff and we also found the air con not cool enough but after asking about this it was made colder.

 

We ate once in TK and cancelled our second visit there. Just doesn’t do it for me, I’m afraid. Wish they would ditch him or at least change the menu.

 

We ate breakfast in the Colonnade each day and apart from the totally disgusting corned beef hash, really enjoyed all the fresh fruit etc. My biggest gripe is that the tea is not made with boiling water so it never brews!

[Hlitner]

WOW!   Thanks for posting the review and truly sorry about your experience.  We have a theory which is certainly not an excuse.  When we started cruising post COVID our first cruise was last July-August on the Ovation.  It was excellent and the crew was top notch.  When we chatted with the crew they all had worked on Seabourn pre-COVID, were very motivated, and all was right in the world.  In October we were on the Odyssey and again, the crew was excellent and very experienced.  Recently we were on the Ovation (27 days) and the crew again seemed competent but we talk to a few newer members.   But the earlier cruises were at a time when SB was just beginning to resume operations so they only had to staff a couple of vessels.  Recently "Josh" announced that SB is now operating all of its vessels (plus the new Venture is staffed and in sea trials).  So my theory is that SB has now been forced to allocate their experienced crew across the fleet and make up shortages with newly hired crew who, from the OP's post, are obviously not properly trained or overworked.

 

The staffing problems seem to be cutting across the entire cruise industry.  We have seen complaints on nearly every CC Board.  One offered excuse is that it is taking a very long time to obtain the required Visas for crew members as most governments are not operating at their normal pace.  But none of this excuses what happened to the OP.  As posted, if you are paying SB prices you have every right to expect SB quality.

 

Hank

[Mr Luxury]

I agree and the hospitality industry as a whole is struggling to employ staff.

I have had a few disappointing meals in well established London restaurants recently and things that shouldn't happen in luxury hotels.

There simply is not enough staff and those that are new still need a lot of training.

[ciaoYacht]

I recently sailed on Seabourn Ovation May 28-June 4 from Barcelona to Rome.  This was my first Seabourn cruise so I have nothing to compare it to otherwise.  However, for what it's worth, I did not experience any of these issues on my cruise.  I'm sorry the OP had a sub-par experience, and I know everyone's experiences may differ, but I wanted to highlight that there are many people who have an excellent time on the current Seabourn.  I consider myself well traveled in the luxury market, staying at mostly Four Seasons properties along with other high end hotels when I travel.  What I experienced on Seabourn was, in my opinion, the service that Four Seasons strives to offer.  It greatly exceed my expectations.  Here are some specific examples:

• My partner had a small tear in the seam of his new sports coat.  We told our room attendant about it and within 10 minutes they had a tailor at our room.  The jacket was fixed to perfection within 20 minutes, without charge, and we were on our way to dinner as planned! 
• A Seabourn employee was on our excursion to Cinque Terre on her morning off.  We mentioned to her how much we loved the special Molton Brown scent that was designed for Seabourn.  She suggested we purchase some bed mist to take home.  When we returned to our room later that day, there was a bed mist placed in our room to take home as a gift.  This was beyond thoughtful.
• At the Thomas Keller BBQ night (yes, you did need a reservation but I was told they were able to 'squeeze' everyone in) they ran out of the special Thomas Keller potted cheesecake and instead brought us another cheesecake which happened to be delicious.  The next morning the Colonnade manager found us to apologize for the inconvenience.  I wouldn't have even known the difference, but she insisted on getting us the TK cheesecake nonetheless so that we could have "the complete experience."  The next day at lunch she found us by the pool and surprised us with the TK cheesecakes.
• We made some friends on the ship and would end each night in The Club.  We often stayed well past every the other guests, but the bartender never made us feel as if we were overstaying our welcome.  Instead she was extremely hospitable offering us drink refills late into the night.  I know had I been in her shoes I would have been rushing everyone out the door.  She demonstrated the highest level of professionalism.
• We didn't eat in The Restaurant until the 5th night of our cruise (Chef's dinner), however, when we walked in the staff knew our names.  The service and food were top notch in The Restaurant, making me wish I had dined there sooner.
• Furthermore, all the employees including the cruise director and a hotel manger in training for another Seabourn ship, knew our names within a day and would frequently stop by to check in on us and chat.
• We often went for a pre-dinner drink at TK Grill bar, and would always ask if they had any openings even though we already ate there once as allowed.  The one night after we already left the bar the hostess came running after us on our way to Earth and Ocean to tell us she found a table for us.  Again, going above and beyond to keep us happy.
• Finally, while I was doing laundry one day one of the ship's officers walked by and saw me waiting out in the hallway.  He offered to bring me a glass of champagne to make my boring task a little less tedious!  This showed that everyone on board really cared.

The cruise was not without some minor hiccups.  For example, the ship was short on some provisions such as specific alcohol brands on the first day as they were still unpacking, but the crew did what they could to account for these issues.  The bartender at the pool sent another staff to 2 other bars to find us the tequila we wanted for our margaritas even thought they didn't currently have it at the pool bar.   There were a couple other issues not worth mentioning, but they were not enough to ruin an amazing experience, and may occur anywhere you travel.  Additionally, the fact that the crew worked so hard to right any wrongs also made these minor hiccups a non-issue.  I hope any issues get ironed out but from what I experienced Seabourn made me a repeat customer!

[robertmartha]

ciaoYacht

 

TY for the review and details. We were fortunate enough to sail on our first Seabourn cruise in Jan20 before everything shut down in March and we cannot see ourselves going on another line at this point after the amazing experience we had. The recent postings on this board have had us second guessing booking sooner rather then later. I completely understand staffing issues due to covid across ALL industries...so would not be bothered by some of the issues others have posted - but your post has definitely reminded me just how much we miss Seabourn! and how I need to book a sailing sooner rather then later! TY! 

Bob

[CwazeAndCwaze]

11 hours ago, John117 said:

We tried to book a cruise around 6 weeks out and managed to reserve a guaranteed suite but flights were not available to book.  This was supposedly linked to the move of embarkation from Venice to Ravenna. (didn’t Venice ban cruise ships from 1^st August 2021? Why was this a surprise 9 months later?) After another week and calls to Seabourn and TA we were advised that flights could now be booked but the only “included” flights involved a change and some very long stopovers. We were offered a cruise only fare and then quoted a fare for the flights and transfers. The flights were with Easyjet so not a great 6 star start but at least we got Gatwick flights which is easier for us. The fares we got were considerably more than those available direct from EJ so our transfers were very expensive.  In normal times we would have taken the cruise only fare and sorted out our own flights and transfers but we decided there were too many Covid problems so went with the Seabourn package.

 

4 weeks out we were told we would need a medically observed Covid test before leaving home. This was supposedly a government requirement but no-one could tell me which government. I emailed Seabourn guest relations for confirmation but I still await a reply. So we had to pay the £70 plus the train fare to go up to Gatwick airport and have the test done even though this was quite clearly a Seabourn requirement introduced after we had paid the full fare.

 

Our flight was slightly late into Bologna but clearing immigration and collecting the luggage was very quick. Unfortunately, there was no Seabourn representative waiting for us. We searched the airport for an hour to no avail then started to make some calls. The ground agents phone kept cutting out but after 4 short interrupted calls I managed to get the message across and as if by magic a young lady appeared holding a Seabourn label.

Eventually after a 2.5 hour delay we finished up with a private transfer which was quite fast (160km/hr for much of the distance) and we were soon on board.

 

We met our suite attendant and her assistant and were given our customary glass of champagne (lukewarm! And no canapés) and sorted out the drinks for the room. My wife asked for some slices of lime for the mini bar but after 3 days some lemon appeared but never any lime. We also called room service for the lime but that didn’t work either.

 

We had a few suite issues such as the air-con failing to cool the room, the shower valve wouldn’t turn far enough to allow a warm shower one of the sinks wouldn’t run away and the balcony divider rattling but these were quickly fixed by guest services (the balcony divider was fixed by me with 2 cocktail stirrers). Then our minibar fridge packed up on day 12 but within 4 hours we had a new fridge

 

The other problem we had was the servicing of our suite. Our suite attendant was based on deck 7 but we were on deck 5. We had no chance to interact with her as we never saw her. We resorted to communicating by leaving her notes. We had several nights when our room was not serviced at all or not done fully, room service dishes were still in our room some 5 hours later, the glasses we used during the afternoon weren’t washed up etc. We always put the service card on our door when we left the cabin but of course out stewardess didn’t see it as she spent all her time 2 decks away. I raised this problem in the comments form after 3 days but never had a reply from guest services until day 10 when I received a phone call. After the first 7 days we were visited by a new suite stewardess and her colleague who were taking over our suite. Most of the suites they have to look after are on deck 9. This seemed to improve things but we still had a few minor glitches like being 1 towel short, and getting down to our last toilet roll and running out of tissues. We also found a large piece of broken glass just under the bed which had probably been there since we embarked. Fortunately, our feet were just too small to step on this. We understand some cabin attendants had over 18 suites to look after.

 

Room service was variable. Warm champagne, portion of caviar for one instead of 2.  Breakfast orders were a bit of a joke and it was a lottery as to what turned up. The coffee was undrinkable sludge and normally cold. How can they deliver an odd number of certain items when you order 2 portions.

There were quite a few “new” staff who obviously needed some more training. Seabourn admit they are training staff but why should I have to participate in it and pay a large sum of money for the privilege?

 

The choice of food at breakfast has been cut quite dramatically with a poor selection of fruit, yoghurt and cereals. Yoghurt now comes in a small glass bowl or a large bowl for you to serve yourself. It was generally very runny and tasteless. It could take in excess of 20 mins for an order of fried eggs to arrive so don’t cut it fine if you are on a tour. Coffee was another issue and even the “French press” coffee was variable.

 

The wine selection was poor and even further reduced from our cruise on Encore in March. No French or South American Red wine. We were advised that some local wine had been taken on board but this was never publicised. On day 12 I got another list and it was reduced even further by 1 red. We tried some of the local Slovenia and Croatia wines brought on board but definitely not to our taste (even the supposedly better quality ones brought on on our second week of the cruise). Warm champagne was served on several occasions in the bars and even by room service. We ordered a $115 bottle of wine from the Head sommelier one evening but she never returned to check we were happy with it and topping our glasses was left to the wait staff.

 

The Restaurant was never open for breakfast or lunch so the choice of dining venues was reduced. On Keller nights in the Collonade a reservation was required there too reducing the choice of dining options. Earth and Ocean was also closed some nights if the CD had arranged some on deck entertainment.

 

The grill was slightly better on this trip (compared to Encore in March) but not great and the pisco sour was really good as was the Dover Sole.  I asked for my steak to be well done and it was but it was practically incinerated. They don’t seem to appreciate the concept of butterflying the beef and prefer to burn it to get to well done. The fries and veg were acceptable at best. We have tried the deserts before and weren’t impressed so gave them a miss (except for one order to test them and I didn’t eat that either).

 

The service in the restaurant was so bad one night as our regular waiter wasn’t there.  Different types of butter were just dumped on the table with no explanation of what each pot was, bread was dumped on our plate without asking what we would like, wine was spilt on the table and down the glass and not mopped up, our order was not taken for 20 mins, food served from wrong side, fish overcooked…. And so it goes on.  We spoke to the Maître d who accepted all our comments without argument. On the way out we were met by the food and beverage manager so we briefed him on our problems again

 

On Seabourn we used to have a problem deciding which restaurant to go to as we liked almost everything on the menu. This time we searched for something we might eat and changed the side dishes to suit us as the recommended ones were pretty bad. This was definitely the worst food we have experienced on any cruise (Viking, Cunard, Regent, Silversea, Seabourn and several river cruises). This includes the three other post Covid cruises taken since August 2021

 

We never saw the chef in the restaurant. He seemed stay in the kitchen so the poor wait staff had to take all the bad comments.

 

The water provided in recyclable bottles we didn’t like so we managed to get enough Evian and filled our own bottles for going ashore.

 

The group of Entertainment staff spent time in the bars drinking on occasions. They were not performing as one of the team was ill. They have not performed in 10 weeks since being employed. They also made themselves at home in the hot tubs and swimming pool

 

They have installed Night lights under both bedside cabinets and the dressing table which can’t be switched off.  They come on automatically as you walk past and stay on for about 10 seconds. They produce an excessive amount of light and this normally wakes your partner if you try to visit the bathroom in the night.

 

We understand our cruise had 280 passengers on week one and 250 on week 2 so not exactly crowded. The cruise following ours they think had 183 passengers.

 

Management of tenders and groups was a problem. We sat on a tender for 25 mins one day waiting for a group to board.

 

Our return transfer was by coach at a much more sedate pace with a Seabourn rep on board. We were dropped off at the bus station but received no help as to where to go to check in. This might not seem such a problem but Bologna airport is quite small and if I tell you our coach took 10 mins to negotiate the airport entrance road mainly due to the drop off car park being full and cars being abandoned and suitcases unloaded all along the road you will realise how busy the airport was and that some help would have eased the journey.

 

So, in summary many of these are small issues and on their own would not have spoilt our holiday. The problem was they appeared almost every day. This was basically 3/4* service and food but at 6* prices. In case you think we waited until we got home to complain I can assure you that we had meaningful discussions with the Hotel Director “Harry” who accepted there were problems and they would “get fixed”. Unfortunately, not in time for our cruise!!

 

If Seabourn don’t have enough competent staff to give the service they advertise, which it would appear was the case on this cruise, then they should not have started up so many ships. The present service level will destroy their reputation as a 6* cruise line.

 

We will definitely not be returning to Seabourn in the near future until they sort themselves out and get back to where they were pre pandemic (if they ever do under new owners?)

 

 

 

Sadly, our experience too with the same outcome.  We won't be returning to Seabourn.

[cruiseej]

5 hours ago, Hlitner said:

So my theory is that SB has now been forced to allocate their experienced crew across the fleet and make up shortages with newly hired crew who, from the OP's post, are obviously not properly trained or overworked.

 

I agree, Hank. We were on Odyssey in October right before you, and again in March, and the cruises were pretty much excellent all around. The staff was wonderful, wines were good, meals were good — two great Seabourn experiences.

 

I think the need to get crews up and running on two old ships and a new ship in a fairly short period of time this spring is where they ran into problems. Between former staff members not coming back after two years off and visa issues, they had a hard time getting enough staff, and some of that staff was new (new to Seabourn, if not new to cruising entirely). So they shuffled experience staff from the 3 ships which had been cruising to the 6 ships needing staff, and service suffered as they worked to get up to full staff capacity and fully-trained experienced staff.

 

It should also be noted that some of the issues John complained about in his original post above have nothing to do with Seabourn staffing. The night lights next to the beds have been that way on Seabourn ships for years; I've always thought it was a clever idea which could be improved with lights which are less bright and which can be turned off. Ever-changing Covid testing requirements have been a challenge for all the cruise lines, and an annoyance for passengers on all cruise lines. (Read the Silversea board to hear an earful of the complaints on that subject. 😉 ) Keller nights in the Colonnade have always required reservations because they are popular. Earth and Ocean is always closed on nights when there is nighttime entertainment on the pool deck. A first-time Seabourn cruiser has no way to know those things in advance, of course, but they should be noted in the Herald/app/TV system the night before so it doesn't come as a last-minute surprise. Transfers to and from airports is always handled by a ground services company contracted by the cruise line, and they are often not as top-notch as the high-end cruise lines they serve.

 

That all said, I absolutely understand how these experiences, on top of crew service issues and poor food coming out of the kitchen, can make for a less-than-satisfactory experience for a first-time Seabourn cruiser (and perhaps for overturn Seabourn cruisers as well). 

[sfvoyage]

I have sailed on SB on several segments in the past few months (Oct, Nov, Dec, Mar & Apr) and was very pleased with the food and service - just as good if not better than ever (over the past 10+ years).  However, I did not thoroughly enjoy myself due to issues with Seabourn's covid protocols, especially with the lack of mask enforcement.

 

At the same time, I know of quite a few beloved old-time SB employees who have left SB or the industry during the pandemic to start a new job, a new business, a new family, etc.  I am happy to be taking a break from cruising for the rest of this year, especially after reading about the latest service issues due to hiring and training challenges, which, as many of us know, are widespread in all hospitality sectors (cruises, airlines, airports, hotels & restaurants, etc.).

 

What I am curious about is:  all those people who swear they'll never sail with Seabourn again, who are they go going with?  

 

 

Edited June 16, 2022 by sfvoyage

[notjaded]

Just off the Odyssey, YVR-YVR 14 days. Our first pandemic-era cruise.

 

We also found that Seabourn failed to follow its COVID published policies. When I completed the Guest Services Manager's early cruise survey (which promised a response), no one in management responded. That screamed "Hey, don't trust us!" and "We don't care!"

 

The staffing issues were troubling. Why one assigns a brand-new stewardess to a Penthouse Suite is beyond me. Why should I be paying to beta-test her? In addition to our stewardess, wait staff failed to remember our preferences. I suspect that they were all still trying to remember the basics and could not be bothered to recall the exceptional, which is a hallmark of a luxury experience.

 

We did have a good time (adapt and improvise!) and will sail again. We made Platinum on this cruise, but our next cruise probably won't be Seabourn, but Silversea due to the itinerary/time of year.

Edited June 16, 2022 by notjaded

[nancygp]

Looking forward to my first seabourn cruise in august

 

Nancy

[ciaoYacht]

Not sure about the covid policies systemwide but they were absolutely followed on my cruise: we had to present our vaccination cards and negative covid tests to board. Masking was optional for passengers but I crew always had masks on. For the pandemic becoming endemic and with no other form of transportation in the United States having Similar rules to sailing, I felt their covid policies were more than sufficient. 

[SLSD]

3 hours ago, CwazeAndCwaze said:

Sadly, our experience too with the same outcome.  We won't be returning to Seabourn.

I've enjoyed your videos, but it became apparent from watching them that you approach cruising in a totally different manner from our approach.  I know that for some, the ship IS the destination.  I understand that.  We tend to look forward to ports and don't sign up for itineraries which don't interest us (looking at you Caribbean).  We never order in room dining except for breakfast or if we are ill.  I noticed that you and your friends seem to enjoy your large beautiful suite (and its wonderful deck) more than being out and about on the ship or exploring ports.  (I did see that some of your friends did enjoy ports).  I think SB is experiencing staffing issues and your in room dining experiences probably suffered because of this.  We enjoy the entertainment offered onboard while you and your friends enjoy watching TV in your room.  None of this is meant as a criticism.  I'm just saying that at this point in time, Seabourn did not deliver the luxury you were looking for.  I'm not trying to be a cheerleader, but just saying if your total experience was with the ship---and not the ports, I can see how your cruise ended up being less than stellar.  

[marazul]

I am currently on the Ovation and despite a few glitches when the number of pax doubled the second week,  we have had a very good cruise.  Certainly none of the problems the unfortunate OP posted about.

 

Many of the staff have been employed by other lines before, but are on their first contract with SB.  I think some of the inexperience issues have to do with that. Like two or three tables being unattended as I posted earlier.

 

The wines have been fine.  We quickly found some favorites and stuck to that.

 

There has been no pressure at TKG to upsell wines.  In fact, the waiter aways comes up with the nightly included wines and never even brings up the premium list.

 

And we enjoy the shows and entertainment. 

[MBP&O2/O]

My first SB cruise US next year. I am hoping  I will be OK as I am extremely low maintenance and am quite capable of looking after myself 😁

I can empathise with the crew and am aware of their pressures 

[jdk-atlga]

My wife and I returned last month from LA-Vancouver trip - third time on the Odyssey and first time since December 2019. As I reported to our SB PCC, the cruise was "fine and okay" but it was not up to what it was. There were clearly signs of cost-cutting - some rust on hull, despite coming out of recent dry dock, staff not as polished (or overmatched, especially during our daily tea in Observation Bar), gluten free options were clearly brought onboard instead of freshly made, water pipe break (which happens), etc. There were several exceptional staff (performers, guest services come to mind). My wife and I are exceptionally low maintenance people - we don't need or expect much in the way of food, drink, cabin.

 

This trip was, as I said "fine". That said, I did come away both disappointed (based off of my memory of last cruise) and concerned that I may need/want to look elsewhere. I understand that nearly all the lines and hospitality industry are getting slammed from all sides (not least the mountains of debt incurred), but it does appear that some lines are trying/pushing forward with new options, experiences and business models. Seabourn, in my opinion, seems vulnerable to accepting "fine" as a new SOP.

[fudge]

Its quite disappointing reading these reviews of recent sailings. Like most people we have not cruised since the pandemic broke.

Our next sailing is with Silversea next Friday, I will be doing a live blog.

We love Seabourn, we have a cruise booked this December so hopefully the points people have made will be ironed out by then.

 

 

[SLSD]

25 minutes ago, fudge said:

Its quite disappointing reading these reviews of recent sailings. Like most people we have not cruised since the pandemic broke.

Our next sailing is with Silversea next Friday, I will be doing a live blog.

We love Seabourn, we have a cruise booked this December so hopefully the points people have made will be ironed out by then.

 

 

Where will your live blog appear?  I would like to follow along.  We haven't cruised since the pandemic either--but will at sometime in the future.  We will consider Silversea.  We have cruised with them before.  I have preferred Seabourn, but perhaps things have changed. Seabourn and Silversea are the only two cruise lines we have ever been on.  I look forward to hearing your perspective of the current Silversea. Which ship will you be sailing on?

Edited June 17, 2022 by SLSD

[fudge]

We are sailing on the Silver Spirit, Venice to Venice on the 24th June, never sailed with her before. We have 100 days on SS and not much less on Seabourn, we prefer SS only because of the dress code, we like to dress up when the occasion calls for it.

I read all the posts on Seabourn, SS and Regent, we have a sailing with Regent in October and Seabourn in December, I will post on Cruise Critic on the SS forum. Despite not sailing for almost three years we look forward to cruising once again despite the restrictions.

Edited June 17, 2022 by fudge

[rucrazy]

We have often found that one’s experience on a cruise  is a reflection of the Hotel Director, Head Restaurants Manager, and Head of Housekeeping direct influence upon the crew in their individual departments, this influence can go a long way in shaping the cruise experience for a traveling guest. 
Over the years we have noticed it can fluctuate greatly from ship to ship within the same brand.
 

[FlyerTalker]

Onboard SB right now.

 

So many rough edges, so many gaps and lapses in execution.  Reminds me more of an Azamara or Oceania experience than what SB promotes as their product.

 

And not just talking about a waiter not remembering your preferences from night to night (which I personally view as true nit-picking).